The only sound that can be heard is the sound of her footsteps.
Sun rays passed through the large open windows, and the curtains swayed in the wind.
Imagine an apocalyptic world where you stand atop a skyscraper, and when you look around the city, you only see trees. They guard secrets that will never again be seen or heard and will remain untouched as long as the three suns remain in the sky.
Well, that's what she could see when looking out the window, but in this case, it wasn't a skyscraper or the end of all; it was a strange mansion that seemed to want to touch the skies. A mansion that was both strange and familiar at the same time.
Vast and grand are its corridors, built and maintained with such care that it seemed... unreal, strange, illogical. There were countless rooms in each corridor, the double doors were large and imposing, each decorated differently, but they were never locked. The corridor walls were illuminated by beautiful chandeliers and paintings of unknown people with the same strange surname: Dragă Rumah.
The lights of the candelabras frequently flickered, and the shadows often seemed to have a life of their own. When she turned a corner, she could come face-to-face with some statue decorating the corridor, but she was irritated by how an inanimate being seemed to mock her as if it had more memories than she did.
Sometimes one could catch glimpses of a maid, but when she tried to follow the glimpse, she encountered a corridor even vaster and more silent than the previous one.
Since Akane lives in a mansion, you, our dear reader, might think there would be guards guarding the outside of our beloved Mrs. Mahal's splendid room, along with dozens, perhaps hundreds, of maids ready to attend to her at any moment, filling the vast corridors with movement and life.
But in reality, the corridors of the "small" mansion were as silent as her room, and Akane had to walk slowly through the long decorated corridors for some dozens of minutes trying to find a living soul to actually find one.
Although she felt like she had walked for longer than that.
The silence was strange, as if it wanted to enter Akane's mind, like an addictive song. This was an irritating silence, but perhaps if she tried to see through the apparent truth, she could uncover the secrets that were the reason for everything.
But it was after a few more minutes of terrifying solitude, like in a nightmare where only you exist, that she finally found someone.
A butler with long hair, addicted to his phone. He was reading a Manhwa without paying attention to anything else while leaning against the wall at the end of the corridor.
He didn't seem to notice her until she approached. When their eyes met, she felt strange.
That man looked at her as if he were just an observer who knew too much.
And Akane didn't know how long she stood there staring at him, but she only managed to snap out of her daze when she heard one of the corridor's double doors opening. A junior butler appeared; he had white fox ears with small blue tones at the tips.
And her silver eyes were drawn to the junior butler's green and red eyes.
The heterochromia seemed to mean more than it appeared, but she couldn't understand.
The two men could only sweat under Akane's gaze; they just exchanged a knowing look.
The fox smiled, and the long-haired one put away his phone, leaving his position against the wall to guide the lost Mrs. Mahal and the inexperienced butler to a destiny that had been pre-written.
They seemed to walk slowly as if they knew the new speed of Mrs. Mahal's walk.
Akane followed them, irritated by her fragile body. She didn't remember the path; it seemed that everything became blurry when they crossed a door full of runes.
The door was a portal, like an elevator, but it was much faster and much more beautiful; the elevator and stairs were normally used to cover shorter distances.
Upon emerging on the other side, Akane found herself in an imposing library. The walls rose more than two meters high, and the tall wooden shelves were crammed with ancient books. Sunlight penetrated through the stained glass ceiling, projecting colorful designs that descended along the walls. However, one of the walls stood out from the others – made of frozen, transparent glass, the stained glass formed an arch, drawing patterns that slid across the cold surface.
Through this "fourth" wall, Akane could glimpse part of the exterior garden. But what was once a garden now seemed like a swamp, with mirrored, frozen waters, and a double door that led to the forest ironically called "garden."
But Lady Mahal wasn't interested in that; she wanted to know where the two irritating men who had led her through a damn portal had gone.
...However, the two butlers were nowhere to be seen...
Mrs. Mahal could only swallow her anger, feeling it burn in her throat. There was nothing to vent her frustration on, and holding it in was useless.
But she knew she couldn't do anything unless she followed the desires of her heart, but she certainly wouldn't get lost in boring pages.
Sighing in frustration, she faced the only option that made the most sense in her head.
Something totally illogical but she wants to sleep soon.
She entered the garden.